40 ChatGPT Techniques You'll Use Every Day (Basic Prompt Engineering)

The Nerdy Novelist

31 Aug 202327:16

TLDRThe video script outlines 40 techniques for effective use of Chat GPT, a language model AI. It emphasizes assigning roles to the AI for better output, feeding it with examples to follow a specific style, and brainstorming with it for creative ideas. The script also suggests renaming chat logs for organization, asking follow-up questions for deeper insights, simplifying explanations, and using custom instructions to maintain consistency. It highlights the importance of being specific with prompts, using AI as a tutor, and leveraging it for various tasks like improving readability, coding assistance, research, marketing, summarization, and creating outlines. Additionally, it covers using AI for self-care advice, recipes, book descriptions, headlines, emails, social media content, poetry, and employing advanced frameworks like FITS and the fractal technique for structured content creation.

Takeaways

📚 Assign a role to the AI for better specificity and output quality.
🖋️ Feed the AI examples of your work to help it emulate your style.
💭 Brainstorm topics with the AI for a more rounded perspective.
📂 Rename chat logs for better organization and searchability.
🔍 Ask follow-up questions to the AI to refine and deepen the responses.
🧒 Use 'explain like I'm five' to simplify complex concepts.
📝 Add custom instructions to the AI for project-specific guidance.
🔗 Share the chat thread link for collaboration or reference.
🔑 Be specific with your writing prompts to avoid unsatisfactory output.
👨‍🏫 Turn the AI into a tutor for interactive problem-solving and guidance.
🚀 Consider using advanced models like GPT-4 for improved capabilities.
🔌 Utilize plugins to enhance the AI's functionality for specific tasks.
💾 Save your prompts for reuse and efficiency.
📈 Use the AI to 'story hack' by analyzing and reverse-engineering narratives.
📖 Improve readability with the AI by targeting the Flesch Reading Ease score.
🤔 Employ 'Chain of Thought' prompts for problem-solving walkthroughs.
🎲 Ask the AI for prompts to discover new brainstorming methods.
🧛‍♂️ Interact with your characters or customer avatars through the AI.
🎮 Use the AI as a game master for creative and fun interactions.
💻 Utilize the AI for coding assistance and troubleshooting.
🔍 Conduct research with the AI, ensuring to verify and back up sources.
📈 Develop marketing plans with the AI to identify customer targets and strategies.
📒 Outline books using the AI's structural capabilities.
📝 Summarize content using the AI for quick insights and overviews.
🔑 Extract key points from texts for efficient research and note-taking.
📝 Write with key points provided to the AI for efficient content creation.
🖌 Analyze and adopt writing styles using the AI for consistency.
📊 Use advanced formatting for clear and scannable outputs.
💬 Get self-care recommendations from the AI when professional help is not available.
🍲 Generate recipes using the AI for creative culinary exploration.
📚 Craft book descriptions with the AI for marketing purposes.
📰 Create compelling headlines with the AI using established frameworks.
✉️ Use the AI to write emails, saving time and effort.
📰 Write articles with the AI by providing outlines and key points.
📱 Generate social media posts with the AI for content distribution.
📖 Experiment with the AI to write poetry, both seriously and for fun.
📐 Apply the FITS framework (Framework, Identity, Task, Style) for structured prompts.
🌿 Utilize the fractal technique to expand small ideas into full narratives.

Q & A

What is the first technique mentioned for using Chat GPT effectively?
-The first technique is to assign a role to Chat GPT. This allows the AI to get more specific and often results in significantly better output.
How can providing an example of your work help Chat GPT to follow a particular style?
-By giving Chat GPT an example of your work, it becomes much better at following that example the first time, which can be a shortcut to achieving the exact style you are looking for.
Why is brainstorming considered a powerful use case for Chat GPT?
-Brainstorming is a powerful use case for Chat GPT because it allows users to think of things they might not have thought of on their own, leading to a more well-rounded brainstorm.
What is the purpose of renaming your chat logs?
-Renaming your chat logs helps to keep them organized, making it easier to scan through, search, and find specific chats that have been saved.
Why is asking follow-up questions an important skill when using Chat GPT?
-Asking follow-up questions is important because the initial output from Chat GPT may not be perfect. Probing deeper through follow-up questions can lead to better results through a back and forth with human creativity.
How can the 'Explain it to me like I'm five' technique help in understanding complex concepts?
-This technique simplifies complex concepts by asking Chat GPT to explain them in a way a five-year-old would understand, which can lead to insightful ways to learn about topics that might be difficult to grasp from high-level academic papers.
What is the benefit of using custom instructions with Chat GPT?
-Using custom instructions allows you to provide specific details about your project and how you want the AI to respond, which Chat GPT will remember for the entirety of the chat, ensuring consistency without having to repeat instructions.
Why is it recommended to be specific with your writing prompts when using Chat GPT?
-Being specific with writing prompts ensures that the output from Chat GPT is satisfactory and relevant. The principle of 'garbage in, garbage out' applies, meaning the quality of the output is directly related to the quality of the input.
How can turning Chat GPT into a tutor help with writing challenges?
-By assigning Chat GPT the role of a tutor, it can act as an expert in the subject, ask probing questions, and provide guidance, which can help users think more deeply and overcome challenges they may be facing with their writing.
What is the advantage of using the 'Chain of Thought' prompt with Chat GPT?
-A 'Chain of Thought' prompt allows the AI to walk through a problem step by step. This method often results in better responses as the AI can better understand the context and build upon the information provided in each step.
How can Chat GPT assist in improving the Flesh Reading Ease Score of a text?
-By inputting the content into Chat GPT and asking it to improve the Flesh Reading Ease Score, the AI can enhance the clarity and conciseness of the text, making it more readable.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Enhancing AI Output with Role Assignment

The paragraph introduces the concept of assigning a role to AI, such as an expert plotter, to improve the specificity and quality of AI responses. It also suggests feeding the AI examples of your work to help it emulate a specific style and emphasizes the importance of brainstorming with AI for creative problem-solving.

05:00

📚 Organizing Chat Logs and Follow-up Questions

This section discusses the benefits of renaming chat logs for better organization and the importance of asking follow-up questions to refine AI responses. It also mentions the 'explain it like I'm five' technique for simplifying complex concepts and using custom instructions to maintain consistency in AI interactions.

10:01

🔗 Sharing Threads and Specificity in Prompts

The paragraph covers sharing chat threads for collaboration, the necessity of being specific in writing prompts to avoid unsatisfactory output, and using AI as a tutor to overcome writing challenges. It also touches on the advantages of using advanced models like GPT-4 and suggests exploring alternative free options if budget is a constraint.

15:01

📚 Utilizing Plugins and Saving Prompts

The speaker recommends using plugins to enhance productivity, such as video captions and web pilot for PDF analysis. They also stress the importance of saving prompts for repeated use and introduce the concept of 'story hacking' to deconstruct and recreate narratives based on existing frameworks.

20:01

🤔 Improving Readability and Thought Chains

This part discusses using AI to improve the Flesh Reading Ease Score for better text clarity, employing Chain of Thought prompts to guide AI through problem-solving, and leveraging AI for generating prompts. It also explores interacting with AI as a character or customer avatar to gain insights and using AI for gaming experiences.

25:03

💻 Coding Assistance and Research with AI

The paragraph highlights AI's utility in coding, from troubleshooting to writing code, and emphasizes the potential of AI in research, providing insights that may not be readily available through traditional methods. It also suggests using AI for creating marketing plans and outlines for books, summarizing content, and extracting key points for efficient research.

📝 Advanced Formatting and Self-Care Recommendations

The speaker recommends using AI for advanced formatting to make data easily scannable and for self-care advice when professional help is not immediately available. They also suggest using AI to generate recipes, write book descriptions, create headlines, and assist with email composition.

📝 Article Writing and Social Media Content Creation

This section covers using AI for writing articles by providing a structured outline and key points, and for creating social media content by generating posts and repurposing existing content. It also mentions using AI for poetry creation, either for serious works or for fun, and introduces the FITS model (Framework, Identity, Task, Style) for constructing effective prompts.

🌿 Fractal Technique for Story Expansion

The final paragraph introduces the Fractal Technique, a method for expanding a small idea into a full story, starting from a synopsis to a detailed outline and then into finished prose. This technique is presented as an efficient way to develop content for fiction and potentially non-fiction books.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Role Assignment

Role assignment refers to the technique of defining a specific role for an AI like Chat GPT to adopt. This helps the AI to provide more focused and relevant responses. In the video, the speaker uses the example of assigning the AI the role of an 'expert plotter with 20 years of experience' to generate high-quality content consistently.

💡Work Feeding

Work feeding is the process of providing the AI with examples of your work to help it understand and mimic your preferred style. The speaker mentions that by giving the AI an article and asking it to write a similar one on a different topic, the AI can follow the format and structure more effectively.

💡Brainstorming

Brainstorming with Chat GPT involves using the AI to generate a wide range of ideas or to think of things that might not have been considered otherwise. The speaker finds this particularly useful for expanding the scope of topics to be covered in an article, as the AI can suggest additional angles or ideas.

💡Chat Log Renaming

Chat log renaming is a method of organizing and categorizing your chat sessions with the AI for easier retrieval and reference. The speaker suggests creating a naming system that includes the topic and a sequential order to keep track of different discussions.

💡Follow-up Questions

Asking follow-up questions is a technique to probe deeper into a topic and refine the AI's responses. The speaker emphasizes the importance of this skill as it allows for a more iterative and human-like interaction, leading to better and more refined outputs.

💡Explain Like I'm Five

The 'Explain Like I'm Five' technique is used to simplify complex concepts into understandable terms. The speaker illustrates this by asking the AI to explain quantum theory as if the audience were five years old, which can lead to insightful and accessible explanations.

💡Custom Instructions

Custom instructions are specific directives given to the AI to tailor its responses according to the user's project requirements. The speaker mentions using custom instructions to inform the AI about the desired style and responses for a more personalized interaction.

💡Thread Link Sharing

Sharing the thread link is a feature that allows users to share their chat sessions with others. The speaker points out that if a user has a particularly useful prompt or thread, they can share the link for collaborative purposes or to provide feedback.

💡Specificity in Prompts

Being specific in writing prompts is crucial for the AI to generate satisfactory responses. The speaker stresses that vague prompts lead to undesired outputs, highlighting the principle of 'garbage in, garbage out' in AI interactions.

💡Tutoring with AI

Turning Chat GPT into a tutor involves using the AI to assist with learning or problem-solving in a particular subject. The speaker demonstrates this by instructing the AI to act as a writing tutor, asking probing questions and providing guidance based on the user's challenges.

💡Chat GPT Plus

Chat GPT Plus refers to the premium version of the AI service, which offers access to more advanced models like GPT-4. The speaker recommends using GPT-4 for better performance, although acknowledges that for those on a budget, other options like Claude might be more suitable.

Highlights

Assign a role to Chat GPT for better and more specific responses.

Feed Chat GPT with examples of your work to help it mimic your style.

Use brainstorming with Chat GPT to generate new ideas and topics.

Rename chat logs for better organization and accessibility.

Ask follow-up questions to Chat GPT to refine and deepen the output.

Explain complex concepts to Chat GPT as if you were five years old for simplified understanding.

Include custom instructions for Chat GPT to remember throughout the chat.

Share the thread link of a productive chat for future reference or with others.

Be specific with your writing prompts to get satisfactory output.

Utilize Chat GPT as a tutor for any subject, including writing.

Upgrade to Chat GPT Plus for access to more advanced models like GPT4.

Use plugins to enhance your interaction with Chat GPT, such as video captions and web pilot.

Save your prompts for repeated use as they often prove to be very useful.

Perform a 'story hack' by analyzing and reverse engineering story components.

Improve readability by asking Chat GPT to enhance Flesh Reading Ease Score.

Employ a Chain of Thought prompt to guide the AI through a problem.

Request prompts from the AI itself for alternative or better results.

Interact with your characters or customer avatars by role-playing with Chat GPT.

Transform Chat GPT into a game for a fun and creative break.

Use Chat GPT for coding assistance, troubleshooting, and writing basic code.

Create a marketing plan with Chat GPT to identify customer figures and launch strategies.

Outline a book using Chat GPT for structured content creation.

Summarize lengthy content with Chat GPT for quick comprehension.

Extract key points from articles or texts for efficient research.

Write with key points provided to Chat GPT for streamlined content creation.

Analyze writing style with Chat GPT and create a style guide for consistent writing.

Use advanced formatting options with Chat GPT for easy-to-scan content.

Request self-care recommendations from Chat GPT for general well-being advice.

Generate recipes using Chat GPT for creative culinary inspiration.

Craft book descriptions and marketing copy with Chat GPT for enhanced appeal.

Compose headlines using frameworks provided to Chat GPT for effective communication.

Utilize Chat GPT for drafting emails to save time and effort.

Create articles with Chat GPT by providing outlines and key discussion points.

Generate social media posts with Chat GPT for content marketing.

Write poetry using Chat GPT for a creative and fun writing exercise.

Employ the FITS framework (Framework, Identity, Task, Style) for constructing solid prompts.

Use the fractal technique to expand small ideas into fully fleshed-out stories or outlines.

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